RE: [Paddlewise] _Landing_ in Dumping Surf

From: Doug Lloyd <dalloyd_at_telus.net>
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 01:21:40 -0700
PeterO said:
>G'Day Doug, At first I thought it was crazy until I realised you weren't
talking about rolling completely over. Now its beginning to sound eminently
practical if one is likely to be trashed anyway! I didn't understand
completely though. Do you roll into or away from your non offside brace and
is the non offside brace side at an acute angle to the beach? Is it the
forward wash that takes the kayak off?<

Yeap. Your drawing was fine too. With a tight cockpit, I sometimes find it
easier to roll over and play dead for a minute. I've sure been trashed
enough over the years alighting upright just as a wave hits a steep beach or
the wash recedes into the next dumper, and have found certain mechanical
elements to aid safe disembarkation. I'm not too fussy how it might look to
an observer, but I imagine it could be viewed as a bit unorthodox. Certainly
I use the rollover onto the side manoeuvre launching too. If I get spun to a
broach trying to launch, I'll roll over on my strong side if I can, then try
to spin the kayak like a game of spin the bottle, though in the case of a
miscued launch, I usually only need to spin back 90 degrees to get the bow
pointing seaward again, then roll back to sitting upright. this all takes
place out of the water, right? A kayak with a goodly portion of width
amidships (like a Gulfstream for example) can be very easy to spin back
around on its side on the sand. It saves having to bail out in the wash-out
zone, dumping the water out of the cockpit, and starting all over again.

I realize there are some hot paddlers on this list, better versed at surf
scenarios that I am - so hot that their hair would be on fire when they
paddle their kayak if it weren't for the helmet and head dousing in the surf
:-)

I be just a humble kayaker that bumbles his way along here and there these
days, but I do know what works for me.

Doug Lloyd
Victoria BC

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"Whatever can be said at all can be said clearly and whatever cannot be said
clearly should not be said at all."
Ludwig Wittgenstein
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Received on Sun Apr 20 2003 - 01:18:07 PDT

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